The Hidden Poet
by Lightningeye
Summary: After Team Natsu is put on probation Lucy finds herself employed at her favorite place in all Magnolia; a place where only the lovers of books and knowledge can enter. What else besides dust and cobwebs will she find in the towers of old pages? A fierce man with a buried passion, hidden amongst the tomes, and a young blonde find that they have more in common than first was thought.


Yo everyone, this is just another story I wrote for fun since I'm struggling a bit with my main story, _eventual GaLu_. Anyways here's a chapter for you guys, I hope you like it, it's going to be a couple chapter's long, but nothing fancy! I do not own Fairy Fail, however if I did I would definitely be a happy girl. ;) Anyways here's the first installment to "The Hidden Poet." Enjoy...

* * *

_Crash! _

"Oi! Watch it, Pinky! I'm trying to eat here!"

_Shatter!_

"Wow Ice Chick, I just ordered that! ...damned brats."

_Shuffle, scuttle, crash!_

_"_Erza, _non_, do not use my paints for that!"

_Whump, thump!_

"Eeeek! That was my breakfast you bastards!"

_Thump, whack, smash! _

"Ugh. I don't know how much more of this I can take…"

Mira glanced down at her golden haired friend whose head was currently occupying the counter between them. "Aw, Lucy, they are just having fun." The white haired beauty said with a smile and a tinkling laugh. Though her smile soon turned downwards into a frown as she glanced from her prostrate nakama over to where her teammates were currently attempting to beat each other senseless. Her eyes widened in surprise to see that even Erza was fighting.

_Well, now that I think about it, they do seem to be more volatile than usual. _

"Hey Lucy?" Mira asked down to the Celestial mage.

"Yes, Mira?" The girl turned her face to the side to look up at the barmaid.

"Did something happen to make them more—"

"Idiotic?" Lucy interjected with a grimace.

Mira let out another light laugh, "Yes I suppose that is one way of putting it."

The Celestial mage just sighed before turning her face back down on the counter.

"Mmph." Mira looked worriedly from the blonde mage to her team, normally Lucy had no qualms about telling her about the destruction or how she was late on her rent, so why was she holding back now? Had something bad happened?

The Take Over mage stood silently, trying to think of the best way to get the younger girl to open up when her sister walked over and took the seat next to Lucy.

"Good morning, Lisanna." Mira said with a small smile. Lisanna just stared blankly at her for a moment before letting her head drop to the counter with a loud _thunk. _

"Mmph."

Mira was beyond worried now. She stared at the forms of the two women in front of her.

"Agh! Let me go!"

"Nab! If you're not going to fight then get the hell outta the way!"

"I am trying to find a job that is perfect for me!"

"You idiots! That's the second barrel you've knocked over!"

"Erza! Let go!"

"Do you dare try to subdue me?!"

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

"That is not manly!"

"Oi! Give me my pants!"

"Tch, it's not like you're using them anyways!"

"Pants are man!"

"NOT EVERYTHING IS FREAKIN' ABOUT BEING MANLY!"

Mira felt her calm facade beginning to crumble as she watched her guild mates tumble and tussle about, breaking chairs and flipping tables. Her eye began to twitch as she ducked under a stray chair only to have it smash into a stacked tower of clean mugs, sending them shattering to the floor in a rain of broken glass.

"WILL YOU IDIOTS SHUT THE HELL UP FOR ONE MINUTE?"

Lightning rained down from the second floor in a incredible barrage, zapping each of the combatants leaving them charred and unconscious strewn across ground. Laxus stood sparking against the railing as he stared down with disgust at the mass of smoking mages.

"Tch."

Lucy turned her head up to look at the lightning dragon slayer.

"Thanks Laxus." She said softly, knowing he could hear her.

"Tch. Whatever Blondie."

Lucy didn't reply as she turned to rest her head face down again. Laxus raised an eyebrow at her. Normally, she would have shouted something about ridiculous nicknames and pointed out how he was blonde too while waving her arms around furiously. He turned his questioning gaze from Lucy to rove over Lisanna to rest finally on Mira. He raised his brow further in silent inquiry at the blue-eyed woman who only shrugged in response. With a slight shake of his head the blonde man turned and walked back to his office, hoping that his little torrent of power would keep the rest of the idiotic members of the guild in check, he was still up to his ears in paperwork from one particular team's latest excursion.

Mira watched her sister and the blonde mage sit next to each other in silence. After the horrible things that had happened during the fights with Tartarus the guild had kept a close eye on the young Stellar mage; she seemed changed somehow but no one knew why. It had taken her almost two months to smile again, and when she had it was as if the clouds had parted from their two month rains and the sun was finally shining.

Shorty after she began to go on missions and had invited Lisanna along more and more, not only with Team Natsu but on other missions as well. Natsu had complained royally about her ditching them but he was shut up quite quickly with numerous fists to the face. The guild didn't care who she went with as long as she was finally smiling.

Mira couldn't help but feel like Lucy might be backsliding, she didn't have the same soulless stare she had all those months ago, but she didn't seem like her normal self. Well, her new normal. She was somewhat still bubbly and slightly giggly, she tried to look on the bright side of things like she always had, but there was a seriousness that would overshadow her every so often, and she no longer had the cloak of naivete around her. She was still possessed her innate innocence but she was more wary than she had ever been.

There were subtle changes to her appearance as well. She let her hair grow out to where it was nearly as long as Mira's now, and she stopped tying it up in the little pony tail she was so fond of so now it lay in soft waves down her back, like a silk waterfall, curling slightly at the ends. Her stomach was rarely ever seen anymore unless she was in a bathing suit, and Happy said that she had thrown all of her skirts away. She no longer was the cutesy blonde girl who would try and use her sex appeal with a pout and a wink. She was now a strong, lithe woman whose person exuded attractiveness as well as a maturity that belied her young face. Of course, because she was still Lucy she had no idea the affect that she had on people, and Mira did all she could to keep her in blissful unawareness. She wanted Lucy to be as unhindered in her life as possible, and she knew that very few of the men around would actually be good for Lucy.

Not to say that they wouldn't take care of her or make her happy sometimes, but Mira knew that the new Lucy just didn't need someone to take care of her, but rather stand beside her and be someone who would share the weight she carried on her small shoulders. Someone who would understand that sometimes you can't tell them everything, and that some secrets need to be kept. Mira only wished she could find someone who could be strong for her friend as well as strong _with _her, one who would give her the space she needed but still keep her close. She had her ideas of who would do well for her, but for now she would keep them to herself.

Mira knew she was thought of as a silly matchmaker sometimes, more often than naught, but she knew each of her guild mates more than they thought. She could not remember how many times she's listened to someone pour their heart out into one cup of ale too many, or listened to them cry their fears and wants into the night as she walked them to the infirmary after too much to drink. She knew things about each of them that they probably didn't know themselves, and she knew who exactly their heart secretly longed for, even if they didn't.

Mira shook herself out of her reverie to address the problem at hand, she would come back to her inward matchmaker musings at a later date, but for now she needed to take care of her sister and the young girl who was as close to a sister as she could possibly be.

"Lisanna, Lucy, what's going on?" Mira kept her voice quiet but made sure they could hear the steely edge in it, she was going to get answers.

The youngest Strauss lifted her head and folded arms, laying them on the counter before resting her chin down. She raised her eyes to look at her older sister. "Natsu attacked Gray on the last mission and ended up dragging Erza into it and left Lucy and I to finish the job."

Mira only nodded, this wasn't anything new to her, she'd heard this particular type of story many times over the past year.  
She waited for her sister to continue.

"Once we finished the job we found that they had completely destroyed the town, but on top of that they caused the dam above the town to bust and it flooded the valley."

Mira let out a gasp at this. "The villagers?"

It was Lucy who spoke next, lifting her head up and stared the the ceiling. "We got them out. Thank Mavis I contracted Argo Navis recently or I doubt even Lisanna or I would be here. Luckily we landed on the mountain that _wasn't _the volcano." Mira vaguely remembered Lucy mentioning Argo a while back, it was some type of boat spirit but that thought was quickly overshadowed by the realization that Team Natsu had put not only the lives of the entire village in danger, but their own team mates as well. She bristled with fury as she fought down her demon, wanting nothing more than to take all three of the heads of her idiotic nakama and smash them together. Perhaps if she hit them hard enough their brains would converge into one new entity that might posses some form of rationality and common sense. _You never know until you try. _

Lisanna's voice cut into her rather violent thoughts of limb ripping and brain smashing. "That's not even the _worst_ part."

"What?" Mira couldn't keep the dread from seeping into her voice. What could be worse than mass genocide caused by negligence?

"We finally calmed down the villagers and gave them back the reward for damages, and that's when everything went wrong."

"What happened?" Mira demanded. Master was going to have kittens.

Lucy dropped her face into her hands.

"Natsmp amph Ertha blef p derm velcermo." Her voice was muffled due to the fact her nose was scrunched against her palms and her mouth was covered.

Mira's heart stuttered as she heard the muffled voice. _Surely I heard wrong. Dear Mavis please let me have heard her wrong. _She managed to keep her voice steady as she smoothed down the front of her dress, hoping by eradicating the wrinkles that it would banish the dread of what she knew she had heard.

"What was that?"

Lucy raised her head to look directly into the barmaid's eyes.

"Natsu and Erza blew up the volcano."

* * *

Lisanna was so angry. She was angry at Erza. She was angry at Gray...well not Gray as much for this time he had tried not to fight because he knew what was at stake. But most of all she was angry at Natsu, that idiot should have known better.

He had started the fight between Gray, even after she had taken him aside and stressed the fact that this mission _needed_ to go right. It was their last chance before the master would put their team on probation, but more importantly Lucy had already given up her rent twice that month because of Natsu. He had destroyed her bathroom and she had to pay to get it fixed as well as pay 10,000 jewel extra a month for the next six months as punishment. _Then_ he had demolished a smoked meat stand near the guild and took off before the owner could catch him, leaving Lucy to take the blame. Lisanna tried to calm herself as the memory pissed her off all over again. How could that idiot stand owner think that Lucy could have eaten all of that meat by herself? She had to pay for the meat as well as the charcoal because the dragon slayer had consumed the flaming charcoals too.

The Master Makarov had just returned from a meeting of the masters and was currently shut in his office with Laxus, according to Wendy. It would only be a matter of time before he heard the news and all those on Team Natsu that had been on the mission to Vucanu would be banned from going on missions. The Take Over mage had been going around town for the whole morning with the Stellar mage searching for places that were hiring since Lucy would need a job in order to pay her rent. Lisanna would be fine seeing as she lived with her brother and sister and Mira always would have work for her around the guild, but Lucy was another story. Not only was her rent now more expensive, but the white haired girl rather doubted that Lucy would want to be around the guild all day with the idiots who caused her suspension.

"Goddamn Natsu." She mumbled under her breath as she walked in the back door of the guild into the kitchen. She wasn't hiding, not really, she just wasn't sure she wanted to be there when the master started yelling.

"Lisanna, are you in there?" She heard her sister's voice drift back to her from the bar.

"Yes." She answered, it was uncanny how her sister always knew where she was.

"Can you grab that tray of meat pasties on the cooling rack and bring them up front, please?"

"Yeah sure."

She called back and turned to the tray in question. Her mouth instantly began to water as the smells of savory meat and vegetables met her nose. She loved meat pasties; they were like a little chunk of heaven wrapped in a flaky, doughy bun of love. She knew if she were to bite into one that the meat would be tender and juicy and the vegetables would be cooked to perfection; the gravy would seep from the sides and the bun would complete it with its soft cloud-like shell. She also knew if she were to bite into one her sister would automatically know, and from previous experience that was not a position she wanted to be in again. She grabbed the cooling pasties with a pair of tongs and put them in a fabric lined basket and covered them with a cloth napkin. The scents of goodness and happiness assaulted her senses but she stood fast against their temptations and marched out of the kitchen with the basket firmly in her hands.

"BRATS!" The master's voice boomed from the second floor and Lisanna almost lost her hold on the basket of pasties. She sent a scared look upstairs before setting down the basketful of heaven and turned quickly to leave.

"LUCY, GRAY, ERZA, NATSU, LISANNA! COME TO MY OFFICE! **NOW**." Lisanna hung her head as she made her way to the stairs, she met the gaze of her blonde friend briefly before letting out a dejected sigh and ascended the stairs with Lucy trudging up behind her.

They entered the office with heads hanging low and saw that Natsu was already standing against the wall with a large oblivious grin on his face. Lisanna loved her friend dearly, he was her first crush and her oldest friend, but right now it was all she could do to not smack that silly grin off his stupid face. Lucy sensed her irritation and put a dainty hand on her arm and shook her head. Now was not the time for that, it would only upset the master more, and knowing their luck it would just add on to the severity of their punishment. A half a minute later Erza entered with Gray in tow, the Ice Make mage was still bruised from his romp with Natsu on their mission, he had done his best to avoid fighting but that just meant he was on the defensive the entire time, and Natsu had landed a few good hits then as well as that morning.

"Sit." The master's voice was hard and unforgiving as he stared at each of them. "I am disappointed to say the least. I thought I made myself clear the last time when I said you had one chance. I am not sure what the hell is wrong with your brains, if you even have any, but I am sorely tempted to say that there is a serious defect there."

Erza stepped forward. "Master allow me to expl—"

"I was not done!" The master snapped, obviously annoyed at the interjection. "I warned you and that warning went unheeded." He said before adding as an afterthought. "For the most part." He turned to look at Lisanna and Lucy. "I heard from the report that you two not only completed the mission to satisfaction but that you also saved the villagers from the dam and volcanic explosion. Thank you both." The two girls nodded respectfully at his acknowlegdement. "However, I am sorry to say that you will have to be included in the punishment, the Magic Council may have been wiped out but that does not mean that I do not still have to answer for this occurrence. You will all be put on probation and henceforth be unable to go on missions."

"Aw, gramps! For how long?" Natsu's childish voice asked.

"For as long as I deem Natsu! You are no longer allowed to go on missions, and once I lift the ban, if I ever do, I do not think that I will allow Team Natsu to go on missions together."

There was a silence as the young mages' let his words sink in.

Erza stared at the master in shock. "You mean—you're breaking up Team Natsu?" She asked in disbelief.

It was Laxus who spoke, causing Lisanna to jump slightly, she had not known he was there. "He's saying that that is a possibility, but he's going to see how you all act during the probational period." He crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall. "So it's really up to you whether or not you guys remain a team."

"Master?" Lucy's soft voice cut through the room and Lisanna saw the grizzled man's eyes soften as he turned to look at her. "Yes, child?"

The girl stood up and went to stand directly in front of the small man perched on top of his large desk. She took a deep breath before bowing deeply. "I would just like it to be known that on this particular mission both Lisanna and Gray did there best to adhere to your standards, master. Neither are at fault for what happened, but I know that they must be punished as well. I only hope you take this into consideration for the future." She rose and looked the master in the face and continued after he nodded his agreement. "I would also like to formally withdraw from Team Natsu, and request that I be allowed to go on solo missions when you deem us fit to be reinstated." Makarov's eyes widened but before he could speak Natsu's voice once again broke in.

"Whaaat? Luce! You can't quit the team! We're partners!"

"Natsu!" Lucy's voice cut through his protests, her tone effectively silencing him. "This is my choice. I choose to leave the team. There is nothing that you can say to change my mind."

It was Gray's turn to speak up. "Lucy, does this mean you don't want to go on missions with _any _of us anymore?" His voice was quiet and his face mirrored the look of sadness evident on Lisanna and Erza's faces.

"No, if it's okay with the master once we're allowed to go on missions again I'd still like to go one ones with you guys, separately of course, and not all the time."

All eyes turned to Makarov who smiled at them. "Of course you'll be able to go on missions together, I just don't want all of you going at the same time." Three mages let out collective sighs of relief while Natsu just pouted.

Lucy smiled at him, becoming more at ease with the situation before returning to her seat.

"Now that that is out of the way, I recognize and approve of Lucy's formal withdrawal from Team Natsu." He smiled sadly at the blonde before turning to address the group. "Since you are no longer allowed to go out on missions I suggest you all find jobs within the city in order to support yourselves. There are various tasks around the guild I have available but they will not be enough to substantiate a living wage. Lisanna will be working with Mira as we are looking to expand the kitchens and take on new staff. We are going to add a bakery as well, our guild is growing steadily and we need food to feed our members so if either Erza or Lisanna wish they can work there. Natsu you are not allowed in, around, or anywhere near the kitchens, the same goes for you Gray." The master turned and jumped down to sit in his seat behind the desk and picked up an envelope. "That is all, you may go." The young people began to file out of his office, all silent except for Natsu who was complaining about not being able to work in the kitchen.

"Lucy, please stay."

The young Celestial mage paused at the door before turning around and sitting back down. She lifted her large brown eyes, her gaze questioning as she waited for the master to speak. He lifted a small white envelope and Laxus took it from his hands and walked it over to the girl. "I know that this last one wasn't you or Lisanna's fault and I'm sorry this punishment includes you." Makarov said as she inspected the outside of the envelope.

Lucy just shook her head. "I understand, Master. It was my own choice to go with those destruction causers, so it's only fair that I am included in the consequences."

Master Makarov smiled at her, out of all his children the young blonde was the most dear to him. Though she had not been long with them there was something about her that seemed to bring a completeness to the guild, he didn't know what would happen to Fairy Tail if their Celestial mage was ever to leave them.

"Open the envelope, child." He waited until she folded back the flap. "That is a note from one of my old friends, it is not a formal job request for Fairy Tail but rather an inquiry from one old mage to another."

He waited until she had read it, and grinned openly at the shocked look on her face.

"You mean—me? I can—really? Oh Mavis, is this for real?" Her face was alight with joy, literally bouncing in her seat.

"Yes, I was considering either you or Levy for the position but seeing as Levy is away with Shadow Gear, you are the only one available.

Laxus smirked at his grandfather as he talked to the younger mage. _What a load of crap._ He thought to himself, he knew as soon as he gave his grandfather the letter that he wanted the job for Blondie. He only mentioned Levy so it wouldn't be as obvious. Laxus knew that the blonde was one of his gramps favorite brats, and he could understand why. Over the last years he had grown to care for the chick too, and now he couldn't help but feel protective of her, she was like the kid sister he never had. Not that he'd ever tell her that, but hey.

"I'll take it!" She shouted in her excitement.

"Very well, I'll contact her tonight and let her know. You should thank Laxus, he's the one who brought it in." The blonde girl rushed to the dragon slayer and hugged his arm tightly, it was the only part of him she could wrap her arms around.

"Thank you Laxus! You're the best." She gushed as she pranced away, waving the letter like a victory flag.

"Whatever Blondie." He said trying to smother a smile as she danced toward the door, her earlier sour mood all but forgotten.

"I'll go see her tomorrow, is that alright?" She asked with her hand on the door handle, and smiled once again as she received a nod. With an excited squeal she rushed out of the room, shouting for Lisanna and Mira.

* * *

"Wow! That's great Lucy!" Mira smiled as Lucy finished telling her about her new job.

"Isn't it? I've always loved that little library! I stumbled across it one day when I was hiding from Natsu, and it was the perfect place to get away, he couldn't find me and he hates the smell of books anyways."

Lisanna giggled as she read over the letter. "This is awesome Lucy. I've never been there, but it sounds like a good job for you."

"Good? It's fantastic! I can't wait to start! Miss Kera, the owner, says that not only will I get to recode and catalogue the library's selections but I will also get to reorganize them however I want! That was the only thing about that library that I didn't like, it was always hard to find things." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Though...I don't know if I'll change too much, it's nearly perfect how it is. I might just put all the books in sections but not too organized…part of the magic of the place is it's towers of books."

Mira shook her head and laughed at her young friends excitement, she had never heard of someone looking forward to that sort of mundane work, but she was happy if only for the reason that Lucy was happy.

"What's the name of that place anyways, Lucy?" The barmaid asked as she set a meat pasty in front of her sister who beamed at her in appreciation before tucking into it with relish.

"The Hidden Poet." Lucy said with a dreamy smile. "I asked Miss Kera about it one day, and she said that the reason not many people knew about the store was because she put an enchantment on it. The enchantment keeps the library hidden from all those except ones with a true love of books. 'It hides the place away but once found it unearths the lover of books in the soul.' She said. 'The library is revealed to the ones who will use it well. The lover of books and literature, the ones who seeks knowledge, here is where they come to see and revel in the adventure of countless pages. I made this place a sanctuary for those wishing for an escape from the outside world. Here is where they come to hide, amongst the shelves, and here is where they find themselves and they too become a hidden poet.'"

* * *

It was her fourth day at work, and Lucy loved it. She didn't care that she was covered in dust and cobwebs, that she smelled like an old book, the fact that she was here was all that mattered to her. She was in the back of the library in her newly appointed 'fantasy' section, she had piles and piles of books in teetering towers all around her. Hardcovers, paperbacks, old books, new books, series, singles, some shiny with their covers and others tattered and yellowed with age, all different but all beautiful to her. She hummed a low tune as she dusted the shelves off, enjoying the solitude as she slowly began singing.

"What shall we do with a drunken sailor,  
What shall we do with a drunken sailor,  
What shall we do with a drunken sailor early in the morning."

She didn't know why that particular sea shanty was stuck in her head, but she sang it anyways, her soft voice rising and falling, sending her clear tones throughout the empty store. There had been a few people come in this morning, but they hadn't stayed long, though they seemed to wish that they could. Lucy could sympathize, she was here all day and when it came time to close up she didn't want to go. She broke off singing but continued to hum as she made her way back to the front of the store; still empty. She smiled to herself as she grabbed a fresh rag and turned to go back but stopped when something caught her eye. _Someone's here. _She thought as she made her way down the aisle, she had only seen a shadow but she thought she would check just in case they needed help. She saw a figure sitting waist deep in old books with one open in their lap. "Hello, can I help you with-" She broke off suddenly when she saw who the figure was. Long black hair, white pants, leather boots, metal studded arms…

"Gajeel?" She asked in shock, causing him to raise his head from the book. Red eyes met brown ones as they stared at each other with matching expressions of surprise on their faces.

"Bunny girl?"

* * *

Tada! I am currently undecided if I like LaLu or Gajucy better…I'm hoping to decide before too long! But this particular story is Gajeel x Lucy, I hope you like it. :)

The song I used in the story is "What shall we do with a drunken sailor" it's past the time of copyright plus I don't even think that anyone knows who actually wrote the song, _but, _if any of you are curious about the song listen to the one sung by Robert Shaw's men's choir, _Amaze._

If you have the time please leave a review about what you thought, I always love to hear from you guys. And if you have any ideas for future stories I am all ears! Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter, so I bid you _adieu _until we meet again.

Love, Light


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